D143: ELMSCOTT (YH) to CLOVELLY
Wednesday 18th September 2024
Today miles: 16.7 Total miles: 2343.3
After an excellent sleep I left Elmscott youth hostel around 8am and made my way back to the coast. Initially the path across Milford Common was narrow, slightly overgrown and wet. The sky was mostly blue and I think I’m in for another sunny day. I can see for miles along the coast and I spotted the huge mushroom shaped object in the far distance. It looks very similar in shape to the clusters of fungi that I’ve seen over the last few days. As I approached Hartland Quay the first dog walkers of the day appeared along the coast. Despite having only walked two miles I decided to stop at Hartland and made myself a coffee. I felt peckish but resisted the temptation of dropping further down the cliffs and visiting the Hartland Quay Hotel for breakfast. There’s an old wreck of a boat just off the path. The info plaque informs me the boat (Le Raviens) was featured in the 2020 movie ‘Rebecca’.
After a short climb I’m back on the cliff top. The next mile was one of the hardest and probably the slowest so far on the SWCP. There’s five relatively steep descents and then more climbing meaning it took me an hour and fifteen minutes to cover this short distance. The mushroom shaped building that I’d been chasing all morning was finally reached at West Titchberry. Apparently it’s a cluster radar, whatever that is. Just beyond Titchberry at Eldern Point I spotted a wooden post which advised me that a US airforce Liberator aircraft crashed near here in 1943. Unfortunately the entire crew of ten young airman died in the accident. The next five miles between West Titchberry and Windbury Point was fairly flat and the walking was through lush grassy meadows. I must have gone through at least thirty wooden gates and/or stiles which divided the fields in the two hours it took me to walk to Windbury. The route eventually enters a wooded area named Brownsham Wood and then descends down gradually into a narrow cove.
I’d been drinking a lot of water in the heat and finished the last of my water rations. I was only a mile from a town named Clovelly, where there’s a post office, hotel and cafe in the village, so plenty of options for refreshments. Unfortunately Clovelly is one of only a handful of privately owned villages in England and there’s a hefty entry fee of £9.50 if I want to access the village and use the facilities. I decided this was too much to pay for a bottle of water or a cup of coffee. I did manage to fill my bottle at a water tap at the donkey sanctuary which is located on the edge of the village. There’s a wide gravel ATV track named the Hobby Drive which takes me through Barton Woods towards Bideford Bay holiday park. It was mostly flat and easy going.
To my pleasant surprise there’s a small grocery store at Bideford Bay and I picked up something to eat and a bottle of fizzy pop. The bus from Bucks Cross towards my campsite at Hartland isn’t due for another two hours so I sat on the grass outside the store for an hour before moving off. After leaving the coastal path I walked the half mile to the bus stop and soon after boarded the bus for the trip to the Hartland caravan and camping site. I had a miserly pot noodle and a chocolate bar for my tea, whilst the couple in the campervan next door, who had several guests, were tucking into their barbecue. The smell was amazing.
Werewolfandflump UK Coast Path 